This invention deals generally with containers and more particularly with containers for carrying liquid in bulk that is dispensed directly from the container.
It has become commonplace in recent years to dispense liquids from bulk storage containers holding some 10 gallons, for example, directly to the consumer. One of the best examples of this is the dispensing of milk by the glass in restaurants from a container housed in a refrigerated cabinet. Dispensing of edibles poses particular problems in the area of cleanliness. In the prior art, large milk cans have been utilized, equipped with a dispensing tube at the bottom, and housed in refrigerated cabinets. These containers were quite heavy in construction, and were expensive to manufacture and to handle. Furthermore, the metal containers were circular in cross-section, and thus there was much wasted capacity in the usual rectangular refrigerated cabinet, and there was wasted space in shipping, storing and stacking in refrigeration rooms and trucks, awaiting use.
More recently in the prior art there came into use coated paperboard containers of quadratic shape. The quadratic shape was certainly more efficient from the standpoint of effective space utilization. However, the paperboard containers were very fragile when filled, necessitating that they be placed in rigid shipping boxes for shipment and storage, and then removed immediately prior to use. They were difficult to handle even when simply being lifted into the cabinet, and were quite susceptible to leakage. The paperboard containers could not be reused, so they were discarded after use. This was a significant added expense.
To eliminate the problems of leakage, plastic bags or liners were placed inside the paperboard containers. However, this did not solve the other problems.